


Bacon is the solution (FFXIVWrite2020 Day 26 - When pigs fly)

by Ivelia



Series: FFXIV Write 2020 [26]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen, Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal Spoilers, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26681641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ivelia/pseuds/Ivelia
Summary: Part of my attempt for #FFXIVWrite2020 - September 26 (Day 26 - When pigs fly)Finding alternate financing sources.Spoilers for patch 5.3!
Series: FFXIV Write 2020 [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906951
Kudos: 5





	Bacon is the solution (FFXIVWrite2020 Day 26 - When pigs fly)

\- Ah… I’m dead.” The dull thud of Alisaie’s forehead hitting the table should have been painful, but after all the work they did today, she was way too numb to feel anything. From sundown to sunset, they had been running around, slaying beasts, protecting cargoes, etc. She looked at the lady delicately sipping her tea nearby, unphased, unaffected by the agony of her peers. Of course, for this person, all those tasks were but a cakewalk, but the current state of the team, with the boys spinelessly spread on the nearby couches, belied the true difficulty of their recent work. “We can’t endure this much further…”

\- “But, we still have this to honor today…” chimed in Alphinaud, weakly waving a piece of paper in her direction. From afar, she could vaguely make up that this was yet another request to collect body parts on some live, unwilling ferocious beast, and in staggering quantities to top it off.  _ Sod this _ .

\- “No way…” whined G’raha “We’ll definitely die this time.” In their current states, they weren’t fit to lift a limb, let alone a  _ weapon _ . “Why are we working so much recently?” He didn’t remember reading anywhere that the Scions of the Seventh Dawn had been running an adventuring sweatshop, or anything of the sort. 

\- “Well, it’s like this”, Alphinaud started explaining, a bit embarrassed, that according to Tataru, they had been in the red for quite some time, more accurately, since a certain sword purchase back in Kugane. While the Scions were not a money-making company, or anything of the sort, they still had expenses to cover, for the upkeep of the Waking Sands and the Rising Stones, the living expenses of their full time members, etc. Because of this, the diminutive receptionist had to borrow from Rowena to ensure the survival of their organisation, especially when most of the Scions were out cold (it was G’Raha’s turn to blush embarrassedly).

Borrowing from Rowena,  _ owing her money, _ even for an institution whose main purpose was to ensure the survival of every living thing on several planes of existence, was  _ not  _ a good state of things. So, before the only person in the organisation able to crunch her way through their ledgers was sent to the galleys, or worse, to (wo)man one of the House of Splendors’ exchange counters in a faraway land, Alphinaud decided to step in and take up requests from the adventurer’s guild in order to earn some money to cover the staggering debt with the earnings. Listening to his plan, the only experienced adventurer in the party was speechless for a while, then sighed:

\- “... That’s really a newbie adventurer mentality.” She lamented. “At this pace, we would be able to make enough money to pay off Rowena when pigs fly-” Thinking that they would actually make money from the adventurer’s guild… She massaged her temples “Most adventurers make money not from the rewards, but from what they found on the way. Treasures, slain beasts part, plundered relics.. You name it. The monetary compensation from the Guild usually barely covers repairs and Aetherite or transportation fees. When people say  _ It’s the journey that counts, not the endpoint, _ it’s actually meant quite literally.” She eyed the look of enlightenment on her teammates’ faces, and taunted “I guess it’s my fault for not teaching my children well.” Though, that newfound knowledge brought another issue “Finding a rentable and safe venture is not easy…” Everyone present sank into their thoughts. 

\- “How did we cover our expenses before?” Alisaie wondered. “Can’t we just do more of that?” Before her brother’s blunder, they had been doing quite well after all, no?

\- “From what Tataru told me, we used to rely on the sales of… wind-up mammets” He’d rather not think about the toys in themselves. Why would people buy moveable Scion figurines? Sometimes he even wondered if Tataru’s endless enthusiasm in relooking them from time to time was not just to produce more variations of the damn things…. “But we can’t rely on those to cover the debt, since they have a high production cost. Moreover, since they are collector’s items, they’d lose their value if we produced too many of them…” The solution could not be this simple.

\- “Maybe we could sell a wind-up Warrior of Light?” proposed G’Raha, trying very hard to hide his own interest. Though, he would have had better results if he had been wearing his Crystal Exarch attire to hide his enthusiastically swaying ears and tail. As far as he remembered, such a figure had never been produced, and had been a forever missing element in his own, extensive collection of “Scions of Light” mammets he had tracked down back then, in that distant future.

\- “No.” The idea was shot down mercilessly.  _ No way _ she’d accept having her likeness publicized, even in a cutesy, deformed shape. Although not being recognized as the Warrior of light everywhere she went had forced her to have to prove herself as a faceless adventurer time and time again, she’d be worse off if everyone knew who she was. Imagine being hailed down the streets every time to help for every single little thing? Yeah, just  _ no _ . She steeled her heart and forced herself to ignore the sadly falling ears of her Miqo’te teammate. “No way in  _ hell _ .” The room sank again in silence for a while, for the gears turning in everyone’s mind were noiseless. Until she was struck with a crazy idea:

\- “I did say that  _ we would be able to pay off our debt when pigs fly _ , right?”

\- “Don’t tell me” Alphinaud didn’t need more hints to understand where her mind was going. “Porxie familiars?” Alisaie also caught up on the idea quickly.

\- “If we substitute lesser materials, we might not be able to create something like Angelo, but it could be possible to make simple fakes with a toy-like behavior” And they could produce these in house, rather than to have to outsource them to the goldsmith guild, thus raking in more profits. She might be more of an action-oriented person, but she could only take this much goobue mucus to the face before being tempted to take up a more relaxing craft.

\- “And I can guarantee that lots of people would be willing to part with their hard earned gil for this.” As an avid hoarder of useless knick knacks herself, she was somewhat of a connoisseur in this field “You could even set up a partnership with Rowena to have the House as an exclusive reseller in exchange for a reduction in our debt.”

And this is how the Scions of the Seventh Dawn switched from its world saving purposes to an arts and craft company… Not really.


End file.
